


Enter: Sora! Warrior of the Sea!

by Kokiri_kid



Category: One Piece
Genre: Amber Lead Syndrome, Amber lead is no joke, Cora-san is trying his best, Doctors & Physicians, Fanboys - Freeform, Flevance (One Piece), Garp the Hero, Gen, Germa 66, Interviews, Law is coping, Marine Corps, Niji just wants to do his family proud, Ode is getting there, Reiju loves her mom, Seriously Germa's pride is at stake, Sora Warrior of the Sea, Tsuru is so done with everyone, and also a budding fanboy, those pamphlets you see in the doctor's office
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-22
Updated: 2020-07-23
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:33:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,425
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24316606
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kokiri_kid/pseuds/Kokiri_kid
Summary: Ensign Almar Ode did not sign up for this. He was put in charge of making a comic to boost the Marines' reputation in North Blue, but did he really have to be the one to interview insane Marine heros? And what was up with having to take advice on character design from actual Germa brats? What is his life.or, the creation of Sora, Warrior of the Sea.
Relationships: Donquixote "Corazon" Rosinante & Trafalgar D. Water Law
Comments: 7
Kudos: 33





	1. In which the meeting decrees it

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> (but actually just Vice Admiral Tsuru, cuz no one else has their act together)

Vice Admiral Tsuru breezed into the meeting room, not bothering to bite back a sigh. Meetings nowadays were all the same. Tsuru wondered why they bothered if there was nothing new to report. She’d rather talk to Sengoku, and that was saying something. He still had to tell her if there were any updates on his brat’s infiltration mission. The kid saved her a lot of work in chasing after those rotten Donquixote Pirates, but that only meant she was pushed into supervising pointless recaps of issues she’d rather not get involved in.

...Like Flevance.

She sat down with a flourish at the head of the table.

“Go ahead.” Tsuru waved to the group.

“Right.” A pink-haired punk stood up. “Commodore Fullbody reporting. We’ve tried everything--financial aid, improved wages for new recruits--everything! And still, public support for Marines is continuing to plummet!"

Everyone began muttering their own sorry tales in that regard. But whining never got anything done, so Tsuru took it upon herself to reign everyone back.

“What do you suppose we do, then?” she drawled at the brat.

“I-I don’t know, ma’am. If only we had gotten doctors to Flevance before…”

A loud bang rang out as one of the hot-headed Lieutenants ground his fist on the table. 

Tsuru only rested her chin on her hands, eyes half-lidded in resignation. To yet another outburst. Sure enough, the Lieutenant's flare in temper had more than just the poor Commodore cringing back.

“Don’t start spouting that crap! You know full well that was too late to do anything but quarantine the place!” the Lieutenent barked out. “And there’s no doctor alive that can cure Amber Lead!” With that, the whole room broke out into their own little arguments.

Amber Lead. Tsuru hummed in consideration. It wasn’t that she didn’t care about the people of Flevance… It’s just, what’s done is done, and this meeting was meant to brainstorm ways to fix the Marine’s reputation, not squabble over why it had taken a turn for the worst in the first place.

...which was all anyone seemed to be doing.

At this rate, the Marines would lose all their influence in North Blue, the World Government would have to step in, and…

Tsuru wondered if anyone would notice if she fell asleep right here. She could already tell it was going to be a long day, and they obviously weren’t going to get anything done, so… she discreetly scanned the room before her better judgement caught up with her. Better not, she huffed. If her fellow vice admirals found out, Sengoku would have the nerve to look condescendingly at her, and Garp would never let her forget it.

She wished she had brought some files with her, like the kid a little ways down from her. An Ensign by the look of his uniform. That way she could actually get some work done. Instead, she watched enviously as the Ensign shuffled through his papers. What a infuriatingly prepared brat. Probably color-coded his mission reports instead of training, the scrawny thing.

They both blinked in surprise as a colorful slip of a booklet slipped out of his stack. A bright neon samurai stood poised on the cover.

“Ensign… what do you have there?” Tsuru called out, and the room stuttered into a baited silence.

“It’s nothing, ma’am!” He yelped, trying to shove the offending object back into his folder.

“Then you won’t mind handing it over.” She held out his hand for the booklet. The Ensign had no choice but to do as she said. And the comic book was passed down the lane of his superiors. This was it, he gulped. The end of his Marine career. It was corporate suicide, at the very least. 

There was dead silence as she studied the cover, then flipped through the pages.

“Sneaking comics into meetings now, are we?” The Ensign’s commanding officer snarled at him.

“I-it’s not mine! R-really, my little brother must’ve…” he trailed off, realizing a weak explanation like that would accomplish nothing. But she waved a hand to silence the lot of them.

“...comics, huh? That’ll do.” Tsuru muttered, and she snapped the book closed. They all held their breath in confusion.

“You!” she pointed at the bratty Ensign who dared bring a comic to her meeting when she hadn’t even thought to bring her own papers.

“Yes, ma’am!” He straightened.

“What’s your name?”

“Ensign Almar Ode! At your service, Vice Admiral ma’am!”

She nodded. “Aright, Ensign Almar, since you seem to like comics so much… I’m putting you in charge of making a comic with a Marine protagonist. Have a rough outline done by the next meeting.”

That would probably boost the Marines’ popularity with the younger generation at the very least, Tsuru supposed. And as loathe as she was to admit it, the impudent youngsters of today would be the ones running the show in the future.

“Huhhh?!” The room burst out in a rambunctious clamor.

“Since none of you other sea slugs can come up with anything, we’re giving this a trial run while you brainstorm. And you better have some decent ideas by then.” She glared at them. Satisfied when they all shrunk back a bit, Tsuru stood and stalked out the door, throwing a causal “Dismissed,” over her shoulder.

Ensign Almar Ode stared after her in open-mouthed shock.

...She still had his brother’s comic tucked under her arm…

He was never going to get that back, was he?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Almar Ode's name comes from the Spanish "Ode al Mar" or "Ode to the Sea." I thought it was fitting for the author who writes our Warrior of the Sea. Also, Ode is close to Oda, so I can pay homage to the fantastic Eijiro Oda! And Almar looks a bit like Elmer, like he's the glue that's holding this all together, and... nah, I'm just playin'. A name's a name. It's what you do with it that counts. 
> 
> I aged up the marine Fullbody for this fic, sorry, I really didn't want to use too many ocs!


	2. Heros and Homelives

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Ode phones home, interviews marine heros (and leaves with a headache and a few ideas to storyboard)

The next meeting was in… Ode checked the calendar above his desk. Two weeks. That was… literally no time to do anything. Okay, okay. He’s got this. If he passed at the top of his class in the academy, he could write a dumb children’s comic. Ode tore the latest page of crossed-out ideas from his notepad and hovered his pencil above a fresh one.

...he had nothing. Ode slammed his head into the piles of disregarded ideas. 

“Senyaaaa,” he whined into the pile of disregarded ideas. “What do I do? What do kids even like nowadays?” 

His roommate glanced up at him, nonplussed. After Ode had explained his situation, the heathen laughed a good thirty minutes before deciding to be about as helpful as a floating anchor. 

“Don’t you have a kid brother?” Senya asked. “Why don’t you ask him?” 

Ode pulled a face, already dreading that option. Not like he had many in the first place. “...do I have to?”

“If you want to get any ideas by the end of the century? Hmm, probably.”

With a sigh, Ode dragged a den-den mushi towards himself and roughly dialed his home address. The line stalled for two rings before connecting with a click.

“What the heck? Why are you calling me?” his brother snapped into the line. “Are you dying and no one bothered to put you out of your misery or something?”

“Gozou. Listen, I- uh, I wanted to ask what you’re interested in nowadays?” 

“Huuuuuh?!” His kid brother drawled. “Since when are you interested in what I like?”

“...”

“...”

“...Since a Vice Admiral ordered me to write a comic and I have no clue what I’m doing…”

Dead silence filled the line. Ode swore he could feel the judging stare from miles away. Mainly because the den den was doing a stand-up job at emulating his brother, but that was neither here nor there. 

“...I’m sorry, I’ll never complain about your Samurai Jacques obsession ever again. Just please help me out here, I’m begging you.” Ode pleaded. 

“Hmm, okay.”

“Okay??”

Yeah, since you’re desperate and all. Don’t go thinking I’m doing this for free, though!”

“For the love of--” Ode pinched the bridge of his nose. “...okay. Alright. Any ideas?

Ode could practically hear the smirk on Gozou’s face. “Well, in Samurai Jacques- ”

“Gozou, I swear to all that is good and holy- ”

“Hey! You promised you wouldn’t complain!” And he did, didn’t he…? But Gozou was clearly doing this to antagonize him. Ode just let out an exasperated sigh. Whatever. “Just get it over with, then.” 

“In SaMArI JaCquEs, they time-travel a lot. Everyone loves that trope!”

“Time travel?” Ode frowned. “I don’t know, that seems a little complicated… anyway, this comic is supposed to be about a marine hero. Marines don’t time travel.” 

“Bet.” the twelve year old said distractedly. He probably picked up his book again.

“Gozou, I’m being serious over here!” 

Gozou let out a huff. “Lame. If you’re not doing time travel, you should at least include a robot.” he paused to think for a moment. “And lasers.” 

“Gozou.” 

“No, really! Every hero needs a cool sidekick. Or, you know, a familiar.

“A familiar? And that’s supposed to be…? What exactly?”

“An animal guide.”

“Okay… I could work with that. Maybe the guide could be a seagull? Marines have seagulls on their uniforms, so it’s not completely far-fetched…” Ode mulled it over for a bit. 

“Awesome! Thanks for calling and junk. Don’t forget that you owe me next time you decide to bless us with your presence, Mr. Important Ensign.” and the transmission ended with a clink.

“Hey wait a minute-!” That was hardly anything to work with! Why did he even call that brat again? 

Ode hesitantly wrote out animal side-kicks in the margins. 

~ O O O ~

Ode settled into an empty conference room, willing his nerves to settle down. He didn’t know how he did it, but somehow--somehow--he got an interview with Vice Admiral Garp. His proposition was met with enough amusement to be a personal offense, but Ode was far too relieved to be indignant. And really, Garp the Hero! Surely he’d have some good stories to put in the comic. And quite honestly, Ode needed a fresh perspective.

Ode had previously been digging through the Marine Archives, and while that was all well and good, the archives were vague and bland, stating nothing of the little details needed to link situation A to resolution B. What he really needed was a personal account. Something that described a Hero’s drive and the motivations behind their actions. 

As for the villains, their motives were easy enough to conjure up. Greed, power, infamy: the classic villain MO. The Conquest of the Four Nations stood out in his mind. The culprits, Germa 66, would make the perfect story villain. And they were as ruthless as they were mysterious, so Ode could have a bit of artistic liberty.

Ode busied himself with his notes while he waited for the Vice Admiral to show up. He was just looking over some questions he had for Garp when the door slammed open. Ode fumbled to catch his notes in the shock of it, and rushed to stand and salute. Which was not exactly the kind of impression Ode wanted to project, but he had long since accepted that nothing was ever going to go his way. 

Garp just sauntered into the room and flopped down into a chair, casual as anything. “Ensign Almar Ode?”

“Yes! Thank you for meeting with me, sir! You’ll be a great help with this project!” Ode gushed, but Garp looked less thrilled by the moment.

“Yeah, yeah. Let’s just get this over with.” Garp stuck a pinkie into his ear… and that’s a much less enthusiastic response than last time. Perhaps Garp realized that he’d have to put actual work into this?” 

Ode dropped the salute and sat down with grimace. 

“You, ah…” he consulted his paper, “had a run in with Chinjao the drill. Can you describe the conflict?” 

“That guy, huh? He was really annoying, so I broke his drill.” 

Ode looked up quizzically. “...That’s all?”

“Yeah, well, I had to punch through eight mountains before I could punch his head in. It was kind of a pain.”

Eight mountains?! Ode incredulously scribbled down the new information, furrowing his brows. It didn’t help his nerves that Garp looked scarily casual when he said that. And it only got more incomprehensible from there. After a back and forth of questions and dubious answers, Ode started running out of ideas. Which was when he breached a subject frankly no marine should be talking about. 

“You knew the... the Pirate King.” Ode nearly whispered. “What was he like? What happened?” Why would a criminal like that fight alongside you, he didn’t ask. 

Garp exhaled through his nose, looking up to the ceiling. “Roger was... childish.” 

Ode’s pencil stilled as he looked at Garp in confusion. “Childish?” 

Garp nodded, lost in thought. “Yeah, brutal, short-tempered, and selfish.” he clarified, and if they weren’t talking about Roger, Ode could almost understand that. His little brother was all of those things after all. Brutal, short-tempered, selfish. Just, Childish. 

Except this was the Pirate King. A fabled demon. Gol D. Roger, not his kid brother. So, Ode waited for him to continue. To explain whatever that description was supposed to mean. 

But he didn’t.

Instead, he blinked at Ode and mumbled, “Hm, maybe I should visit that grandson of mine again.” 

“Your… grandson?” Ode blinked in bewilderment, because what? They’d just been talking about Roger, what did his grandson have to do with anything? 

Garp just grunted in agreement, a clear fondness showing in his expression. “Yeah, I have two of ‘em. The youngest one’s still three, so he’s bound to be rambunctious for a while yet, but the older one...” 

Ode inexplicably broke out in a cold sweat when Garp cracked his knuckles, glowering. “It’s about time I teach that knucklehead a few life lessons.”

“L-Life lessons, sir?” Ode coughed, and he inexplicably felt a measure of dread and pity for those poor children who got stuck with Garp the Fist for a grandfather. 

“Yeah, I guess it was too much to ask those mountain bandits to teach Ace some morals or common sense…” Garp muttered as he left the office. 

Mountain Bandits?! Were Garp’s grandsons alright?! Were they still alive?! 

Ode just stared intensely at the empty door frame. 

...Maybe Garp wasn’t the best example for children to follow. Ode was better off reading the archive mission reports.

Garp popped back in, scaring Ode half to death. “Oh! And make sure you add a robot!” he exclaimed. “And lasers! My youngest really likes lasers for some reason…”

And he was gone again. Ode waited several beats before slumping in dejected acceptance. He actually had to add the robot now, didn’t he? Gozou was going to get a kick out of that. 

…What the heck kind of comic were they forcing him to write?!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so I know y'all are waiting for the Law and Corazon fluff, and I have a good bit of it written out, but it looks like that's going to be the last chapter, sorry! And I may or may not be extending this to 4 chapters if the Germa 66 confrontation gets too long... oop. 
> 
> Well, thank you for reading this far! Don't forget to comment on your way out!


End file.
